Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The effects of maternal alcohol use disorders on childhood relationships and mental health

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Despite millions of children living in the turmoil of their parents’ active alcoholism or the aftermath of past abuse, research to date has not (1) provided a comprehensive examination of the effects of maternal alcohol use disorders (AUDs) on children’s social ties outside of their relationships with parents, or (2) considered whether the number and quality of childhood social ties alter the effects of maternal AUDs on children’s mental health.

Method

Using data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979 Children and Young Adults, analysis examined the influence of maternal AUDs on the number and quality of children’s ties with siblings, extended family and family friends, peers, and neighborhood members. The analysis also considered how children’s social ties influenced the association between maternal AUDs and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems.

Results

Children of alcoholic mothers had similarly sized networks but more distant relationships with siblings and friends, negative interactions with classmates, and isolating neighborhoods. Controlling for these aspects of children’s social ties substantially reduced mental health disparities between children of alcoholic mothers and other children.

Conclusions

Findings support the view that maternal alcohol use disorders have the potential to damage children’s mental health while also setting into motion long-term relationship problems. Future research should examine the networks of children who experience parental AUDs to further clarify the social processes that link parental AUDs to children’s mental health.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The 1984, 1985, and 1988 surveys did not ask about tolerance, and the 1994 survey did not ask about craving.

  2. All other covariates are held at their observed values during post-estimation.

References

  1. Umberson D, Williams K, Thomas PA, Liu H, Thomeer MB (2014) Race, gender, and chains of disadvantage: childhood adversity, social relationships, and health. J Health Soc Behav 55(1):20–38

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Montez JK, Hayward MD (2014) Cumulative childhood adversity, educational attainment, and active life expectancy among U.S. adults. Demography 51(2):413–435

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Fuller-Thomson E, Katz RB, Phan VT, Liddycoat JPM, Brennenstuhl S (2013) The long arm of parental addictions: the association with adult children’s depression in a population-based study. Psychiatry Res 210(1):95–101

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Hasin DS, Stinson FS, Ogburn E, Grant BF (2007) Prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence in the United States. Arch Gen Psychiatry 64:830–842

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (2014) Results from the 2013 National survey on drug use and health: summary of national findings. NSDUH Series H-48, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4863. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville

  6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (2012) More than 7 million children live with a parent with alcohol problems. Data spotlight. http://www.samhsa.gov/data/

  7. Kelley ML, Nair V, Rawlings T, Cash TF, Steer K, Fals-Stewart W (2005) Retrospective reports of parenting received in their families of origin: relationships to adult attachment in adult children of alcoholics. Addict Behav 30(8):1479–1495

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Duke AA, Giancola PR, Morris DH, Holt JCD, Gunn RL (2011) Alcohol dose and aggression: another reason why drinking more is a bad idea. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 72:34–43

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Boden JM, Fergusson DM (2011) Alcohol and depression. Addiction 106(5):906–914

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Gunzerath L, Hewitt BG, Li TK, Warren KR (2011) Alcohol research: past, present, and future. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1216:1–23

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Dawson DA, Grant BF, Stinson FS, Chou PS (2006) Maturing out of alcohol dependence: the impact of transitional life events. J Stud Alcohol 67:195–203

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. O’Malley P (2004) Maturing out of problematic alcohol use. Alcohol Res Health 28:202–204

    Google Scholar 

  13. Finger B, Kachadourian LK, Molnar DS, Eiden RD, Edwards EP, Leonard KE (2010) Alcoholism, associated risk factors, and harsh parenting among fathers: examining the role of marital aggression. Addict Behav 35(6):541–548

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Hussong AM, Bauer DJ, Huang W, Chassin L, Sher KJ, Zucker RA (2008) Characterizing the life stressors of children of alcoholic parents. J Fam Psychol 22(6):819–832

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Cranford JA (2014) DSM-IV alcohol dependence and marital dissolution: evidence from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. J Stud Alcohol Drugs 75:520–529

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Ostermann J, Sloan FA, Taylor DH (2005) Heavy alcohol use and marital dissolution in the USA. Soc Sci Med 61(11):2304–2316

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Kelleher K, Chaffin M, Fischer E (1994) Alcohol and drug disorders among physical abusive and neglectful parents in a community-based sample. Am J Public Health 84:1586–1590

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Dube SR, Anda RF, Felitti VJ, Croft JB, Edwardsa VJ, Giles WH (2001) Growing up with parental alcohol abuse: exposure to childhood abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. Child Abuse Negl 25:1627–1640

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Jones AS, Richmond DW (2006) Causal effects of alcoholism on earnings: estimates from the NLSY. Health Econ 15(8):849–871

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Sloan FA, Costanzo PR, Belsky D, Holmberg E, Malone PS, Wang Y, Kertesz S (2011) Heavy drinking in early adulthood and outcomes at mid life. J Epidemiol Community Health 65(7):600–605

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Chou KL, Liang K, Sareen J (2011) The association between social isolation and DSM-IV mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders: wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. J Clin Psychiatry 72(11):1468–1476

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Conger RD, Conger KJ, Martin MJ (2010) Socioeconomic status, family processes, and individual development. J Marriage Family 72:685–704

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Straussner SLA, Fewell CH (eds) (2011) Children of substance-abusing parents: dynamics and treatment. Springer Publishing Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  24. Crosnoe R (2000) Friendships in childhood and adolescence: the life course and new directions. Soc Psychol Q 63:377–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Crosnoe R, Johnson MK (2011) Research on adolescence in the twenty-first century. Am Rev Sociol 37:439–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Umberson D, Montez JK (2010) Social relationships and health: a flashpoint for health policy. J Health Soc Behav 51(Suppl):S54–S66

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Avison WR (2010) Incorporating children’s lives into a life course perspective on stress and mental health. J Health Soc Behav 51:361–375

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Jose PE, Ryan N, Pryor J (2012) Does social connectedness promote a greater sense of well-being in adolescence over time? J Res Adolesc 22(2):235–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Bell CC, Jenkins EJ (1993) Community violence and children on Chicago’s Southside. Psychiatry 56(1):46–54

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Van Gundy KT, Stracuzzi NF, Rebellon CJ, Tucker CJ, Cohn ES (2011) Perceived community cohesion and the stress process in youth. Rural Sociol 76(3):293–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Ueno K (2005) The effects of friendship networks on adolescent depressive symptoms. Soc Sci Res 34(3):484–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Martin JK, Pescosolido BA, Tuch SA (2000) Of fear and loathing: the role of ‘disturbing behavior’, labels, and causal attributions in shaping public attitudes toward people with mental illness. J Health Soc Behav 41:208–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Abraham AJ, Bride BE, Roman PM (2013) Public attitudes toward persons with alcohol use disorders (AUDs): the role of social contact and treatment-seeking behavior. Sociol Focus 46(4):267–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Eamon MK (2002) Influences and mediators of the effect of poverty on young adolescent depressive symptoms. J Youth Adolesc 31(3):231–243

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Millings A, Buck R, Montgomery A, Spears M, Stallard P (2012) School connectedness, peer attachment, and self-esteem as predictors of adolescent depression. J Adolesc 35(4):1061–1067

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Sloan FA, Malone PS, Kertesz SG, Wang Y, Costanzo PR (2009) Racial differences in the relationship between alcohol consumption in early adulthood and occupational attainment at midlife. Am J Public Health 99(12):2261–2267

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Aneshensel CS, Sucoff CA (1996) The neighborhood context of adolescent mental health. J Health Soc Behav 37(4):293–310

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Eamon MK (2001) Poverty, parenting, peer, and neighborhood influences on young adolescent antisocial behavior. J Soc Serv Res 28:1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Evans GW (2004) The environment of childhood poverty. Am Psychol 59(2):77–92

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. National Longitudinal Surveys (2005) NLS Handbook, 2005. National Longitudinal Surveys

  41. National Longitudinal Surveys (1998) 1996 NLSY79 child and young adult data users guide. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Division of Information Services, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  42. Achenbach TM (1991) Manual for the child behavior checklist and 1991 profile. University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry, Burlington

    Google Scholar 

  43. American Psychiatric Association (2013) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 5th edn. American Psychiatric Publishing, Arlington

    Google Scholar 

  44. Wolfe JD (2015) The effects of socioeconomic status on child and adolescent physical health: an organization and systematic comparison of measures. Soc Indic Res 123(1):39–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Duncan GJ, Magnuson KA (2003) Off with hollingshead: socioeconomic resources, parenting, and child development. In: Bornstein MH, Bradley RH (eds) Socioeconomic status, parenting, and child development. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, pp 83–106

    Google Scholar 

  46. Hauser RM (1994) Measuring socioeconomic status in studies of child development. Child Dev 65(6):1541–1545

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Featherman DL, Sobel M, Dickens D (1975) A manual for coding occupations and industries into detailed 1970 categories and a listing of 1970-basis duncan socioeconomic and norc prestige scores. CDE Working Paper 75-1. The University of Wisconsin-Madison

  48. StataCorp (2013) Stata statistical software: release 13. StataCorp LP, College Station

    Google Scholar 

  49. Hubbard AE, Ahern J, Fleischer NL, Laan MVd, Lippman SA, Jewell N, Bruckner T, Satariano WA (2010) To GEE or Not to GEE: comparing population average and mixed models for estimating the associations between neighborhood risk factors and health. Epidemiology 21:467–474

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Pan W (2001) Akaike’s information criterion in generalized estimating equations. Biometrics 57:120–125

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Hardin JW, Hilbe JM (2013) Generalized estimating equations, 2nd edn. Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  52. Cui J (2007) QIC program and model selection in GEE analyses. Stata J 7:209–220

    Google Scholar 

  53. Sher K, Walitzer K, Wood P, Brent E (1991) Characteristics of children of alcoholics: putative risk factors, substance use and abuse, and psychopathology. J Abnorm Psychol 100(4):427–448

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Hussong AM, Wirth RJ, Edwards MC, Curran PJ, Chassin LA, Zucker RA (2007) Externalizing symptoms among children of alcoholic parents: entry points for an antisocial pathway to alcoholism. J Abnorm Psychol 116(3):529–542

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  55. Shonkoff JP, Boyce WT, McEwen BS (2009) Neuroscience, molecular biology, and the childhood roots of health disparities: building a new framework for health promotion and disease prevention. JAMA 301(21):2252–2259

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

    Joseph D. Wolfe

Authors
  1. Joseph D. Wolfe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joseph D. Wolfe.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

All human and animal studies have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have, therefore, been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wolfe, J.D. The effects of maternal alcohol use disorders on childhood relationships and mental health. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 51, 1439–1448 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1264-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-016-1264-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation